Nama Om Vishnu paadaaya..
Hari Haraya Naama Krishna …
Jaya Prabhupada…
Mukham karoti…
Here in Berhampur, Murshidabad, Lord Caitanya’s associates, great acharyas had come. This is a sacred place. This is within the Gaura Mandala Bhumi. Gaura mandala bhumi jeba jaane chintamani, taara hoi Vraja bhumi vaas. Haribol! That means all of you are Vraja vaasis! If you all understand and realize that this Gaura Mandala Bhumi, the place of Lord Caitanya’s lilas, that this is a sacred place, then you are all residents of Vraja bhumi. Presently, Kali yuga is going on. Before this was Dvapara yuga and before that was Treta Yuga and before that was Satya yuga. There is a sloka – krete yad dhaayato Vishnum Treta yam yajato Makai, Dvapare paricharchaayam, Kalau tad Hari kirtanaad. Kali yuga is the yuga for Hari kirtan. In the other yugas, there was fire sacrifice, meditation and temple worship, but in this Kali yuga the naam sankirtan, the Holy Name is everything. The Brihad Naradiya Purana says: Harer Naama Harer Naama Harer Naama eiva kevalam, kalau naastyaiva naastyaiva naastyaiva gatir anyatha. Harer Naama Harer Naama Hare Naama this has been said three times. It has been said three times to greatly emphasize. Harer naama – naastyaiva naastyaiva naastyaiva – but for the chanting of the Holy Names, there is no other way, no other way, no other way.
There was a place near Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh where there was drought and no rain many years ago. All the crops and grains got destroyed. How would there be rain? The people got together and did a great homa – fire sacrifice. They would chant a mantra and offer oblations in the fire. They spent crores of rupees in this sacrifice. They did so many such sacrifices and spent so much money and there was a lot of smoke but still there was no rain! Prabhupad did Hari naam kirtan in Hyderabad and then – three days of non-stop rain!! Haribol! In this age of Kali neither does homa or fire sacrifice, nor meditation, nor temple worship works, it is only chanting of the Holy Names, Naama sankirtan works! Caitanyadev said, ceto darpana maarjanama, by chanting of the holy names, our consciousness, the mirror of our soul gets cleansed. And so also say the Vedas and shaastras. In the Kalisantara Upanishad it is said, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare! Iti shodasakam naam naam, kali kalmasha naashanam, naato partaro upaaya, sarva vedeshu drishyate. In this Kali yuga chanting this 16 syllable mantra, all the sorrows, all the obstacles we face will get removed. There is proof of this in all the Vedas. And by chanting the Hari naam, we get great happiness. There is a Bengali kirtan we sing on Aadhivas: Aanander seema noi, niranande dure jai! There is no limit of happiness, all unhappiness goes far away! There is also a Namahatta song we sing: Nadiya Godrume Nityananda Mahajan. Paati aache namahatta, jivera kaaran, Shraddha vanjana Shraddha vanjana, paati aache namahatta jivera kaaran, prabhur aagyaaya bhai maagiye bhikkha, bolo Krishna bhajo Krishna koro Krishna shikha. Aparaadha sunyo hoi loho Krishna naam, Krishna mata, Krishna pita, Krishna dhana praan. Krishera samsara koro chaadi anaachar, jive doya Krishna naam sarva dharma saar. There is nothing difficult about Caitanyadev’s instructions – bolo Krishna, bhajo Krishna, koro Krishna shikha. Caitanyadev’s instructions are that we chant the names of Krishna – Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. What is difficulty? Western devotees have come and even they are chanting the Hari naam. It is so much easier for you! There are three words – Hare, Krishna, Rama. Chinese can say these words, so can the Russians. Everyone – America, Canada, Europe, Australia – people from all these countries can chant. Right? Right? Nitai Gaura Hari bol! Haribol! Ulu dhwani, Hari dhwani! Caitanyadev therefore said, go door to door and beg for this – bolo Krishna, bhajo Krishna, koro Krishna shikha. Nityananda Prabhu and Haridas Thakur went from house to house and begged. Now shaastras say, Sri Krishna Caitanya, Radha Krishna nahi anya, Balaram hoilo Nitai. That Balaram, Nityananda, is going from house to house and begging people to chant the holy names of Krishna and live a life free from ignorance. And Haridas Thakur was an incarnation of Brahmadev. Balaram and Brahmadev are going from door to door and begging, on behalf of Caitanyadev! There were two rascals in Navadvip then – Jagai and Madhai. Even then Nityananda went up to them and begged them to chant the holy names of Krishna, lead a holy life of chanting. What did You say? What did You say? Beat Them! Beat Them! Jagai and Madhai said. Then Nityananda prabhu and Brahmadev started running. Haridas Thakur thought that today is going to be the end of my life! Somehow They ran and were saved! They returned to Caitanyadev in the night and gave a report that Nityananda prabhu had requested Jagai and Madhai to chant the names of Krishna. Lord Caitanya advised that They should not bend their back too much with Jagai and Madhai. But Nityananda prabhu said that we have to liberate all the people, and if we are not able to liberate these two people, then what will be the plight of others? So many will be left back, like these. Many will not go back to Godhead. Again Nityananda Prabhu met Jagai and Madhai and told them to chant the holy names of Krishna. At that time Madhai took a broken wine bottle and hit on the forehead of Nityananda prabhu and blood started flowing from His forehead. But Nityananda Prabhu implored, just because you hit Me, you think I will not give you prema? Nitai Gaur! Haribol! Nitai! Nitai! And Jagai told Madhai, you hit him but still Nityananda prabhu is talking about love! He is not an ordinary man! He is a strong sadhu. Ask for forgiveness. When Caitanyadev heard that Nityananda prabhu had been hit, then immediately He became present there. Caitanyadev had pledged that He would not use any weapons in Kali yuga, but He had promised – name bhakta pranashyati – I will protect My devotees. Then because of this promise Caitanyadev called out Sudarshan! Sudarshan! Chakra! Chakra! Simultaneously, Sudarshan Chakra manifested there. But Lord Nityananda begged, if You kill these two, You will have to kill so many others as well. At that time Jagai and Madhai offered obeisances. Then Caitanyadev said that if both of them promise that they will not do any sinful activities any more, I will pardon them. The two of them bathed in the Ganges and came to Nityananda Prabhu and took initiation and they promised that they would not do any bad activities for the rest of their lives. And our safari group went to see this Madhai Tala in Khatwa. From then on both Jagai and Madhai every day would bathe in the Ganges and do kirtan, singing the glories of Krishna and crying Gaura Nitai! Nityananda prabhu gave so much mercy! Parama koruna bahu dui jana, Nitai Gaura Chandra, shaba avatar saara shiromani, kevala ananda kandha. Bhajo bhajo bhai Caitanya Nitai sudruda vishwasa kori, vishaya chaadiya shei rase mojhiya, mukhe bolo Hari Hari. Dekho oh re bhai, tribhuvane noi, eimono doyala data, pashu paakhi jhure, paashaana bidore shuni jaara guna gaatha. When Gauranga Mahaprabhu crossed the Jharikanda forest, birds and beast, deer, elephants, tigers were embracing one another and singing Hari naam! This is Caitanyadev’s power. One day the smartha brahmanas spread the rumor that the king’s soldiers would come in a boat and arrest all the vaishnavas who were doing Hari naam and take they away. At this time, Caitanyadev went to Srivas Thakur. And He said, nothing of this sort will happen. I am present as Paramatma in the hearts of all the people right? But if the king thinks independent of this, and he does not follow my advice, I will go on to the boat and will challenge them to bring their Imam or any religious leaders to talk and make them cry. But I will sing Hari naam and make everyone cry! I will give everyone Krishna Prema! Look, if you don’t believe Me, here is a four-year-old girl, Narayani, and He instructed her, cry in Krishna prema right now! Immediately, Narayani started crying, Krishna! Krishna! Krishna! Krishna! Haribol! Haridhwani! Uludhwani! In this kali yuga, there is a special recommendation to do Hari naam. How many of you chant Hari naam every day? Almost everyone! I want to give all of you a gift! How many of you would like to, or try to chant Hari naam 108 times every day? I will give you a picture of Pancha Tattva and Radha Madhav and mantra card. How many of you will try to chant Hari naam every day? I need help from the safari group to give out these cards to those who were not chanting earlier and are newly going to make an effort. Matajis from the safari group will distribute to the matajis and prabhus from the safari will distribute to the prabhus. Caitanyadev told Nityananda prabhu in Puri that I am a sanyasi but the sankirtan movement has to go on in Bengal, so You will have to go back to Bengal and initiate the sankirtan movement there. Nityananda prabhu said, I could go back but I would need people to help Me. Mahaprabhu said, take whoever You want to take along with You. So Nityananda prabhu took along with Him some of the associates of Mahaprabhu – Minikitan Ramdas, Ramabhiram das, this way, many associates. Doing kirtan they reached Panihati. There Nityananda prabhu entered the kitchen of Raghav Pandit who was preparing bhoga for offering to Radha Madanamohan. Raghav Pandit asked Him, how many of you are there? He said, about fifty people. He said, alright, all of you go have a bath in the Ganges and return, I will prepare prasadam for all of you in the meantime. Then Raghav Pandit and his sister, Damayanti, prepared the prasadam. This way all the devotees got prasadam, took some rest and then resumed Hari naam. That Hari naam they chanted was so beautiful that hundreds of people flocked to hear that! They were all dancing in Nityananda prabhu’s kirtan. Then Nityananda prabhu told them that Caitanyadev was also there in the kirtan, but they could not see Him, only He could see Him. There is one beautiful flower garland from South India around Caitanyadev’s neck He said. The devotees could not see Caitanyadev but could smell the sweet aroma of the flower garland. Those who could smell the aroma of the flowers got immersed in Krishna prema! Haribol! And they were falling inhaling the Prema Gas! Ha! One is the chemical gas and the other is this Prema Gas! And the kirtan continued day and night. Five thousand people got together. Three days went by but still the kirtan did not end. Everyone was so engrossed in the kirtan and Krishna prema. After three days they realized that I have a home and I have to go back! People asked them, what happened? They could only chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna! After a few days their strength increased so much that they could uproot trees! They uprooted and threw mango trees, as their strength in Krishna prema increased. Some acted like birds on the trees chanting Haribol! Haribol! Haribol! They were all doing unbelievable things! The chanting of Hari naam gave them all so much strength! Abhirama das took one 40 feet bamboo stick and played it like a flute! Raghav Pandit told Nityananda Prabhu, this way all my trees will get destroyed, none will be left! Then Nityananda prabhu took His kirtan party to Bengal. I don’t know if they came to Abhirampur or not.
I offer my obeisances to all of you that you have all pledged to chant Hare Krishna. Caitanyadev said, bolo Krishna, bhajo Krishna, koro Krishna Shikha. You have started chanting the name of Krishna today, please coordinate with your namahatta and do things favourable to Krishna, read Gita and Bhagavatam – Gita is the song from the lotus mouth of Krishna. And Bhagavatam is the glorification of Krishna’s names and leelas. Our Founder Acharya and gurudev, Srila Abhaycharan Bhakti Vedanta Swami Prabhupad, spread this Gaura vani all over the world. That is why lakhs and lakhs of people have become devotees of Krishna. And now the safari group will present a cultural show and I hope all of you will like it. Hare Krishna!
Transcribed by Jayaraseshwari devi dasi
07 April 2019